Posted: 01-06-05 In: Interviews By: Munro2 |


Halflife2.net: How long has your team been working on Fortress Forever?

Schtoofa: The original team was assembled about November 2003... it pretty much had billdoor, mirv, defrag and rebo at the time. Sev and eat joined around the same time but they were all waiting for HL2 to come out, and then later the SDK so they could mainly just work on ironing down concepts.

Halflife2.net: In the event that Valve releases Team Fortress 2, does your team plan to continue supporting Fortress Forever?

Schtoofa: As of now, you bet. We're all having a blast working on it and feel we can make a great Team Fortress style MOD. On top of that, we figure it'll be valuable experience and maybe even something to add to a resume at some point.

Halflife2.net: The screenshots for Openfire made for CS:S and 2fort for HL2:DM look great! What maps should we expect at the initial launch date?

Schtoofa: Just to clarify, the screenshots you saw were taken of a map not made by our mappers... however you can definitely expect the favorites and classics to return. At least as many of the classics we can manage, as well as some entirely new maps.

Halflife2.net: As far as physics are concerned, how does Fortress Forever plan on utilizing the Valve's powerful Source engine?

Schtoofa: JI believe the programmers decided to not overuse the physics, as it would likely slow down the game a lot... but it will be used for some things (just not as intensely as in HL2DM for instance). For instance, when something blows up (say, a dispenser) you can expect there to be some dispenser chunks flying around.

Halflife2.net: In regards to the 10 main classes in Team Fortress Classic, will all 10 classes make the transition into Fortress Forever? (Scout, Sniper, Soldier, Demoman, Heavy Weapons Guy, Pyro, Spy, Medic, Engineer, and Civilian)

Schtoofa: There aren't any plans to cut classes from FF, so you can expect them to be there on release.

Halflife2.net: There are so many great ideas that come to mind when thinking about the classes in TFC and what could be done with the new engine, but are there any specific ideas that your team is excited about making a reality?

Schtoofa: As much as I'd like to toss a feature your way, we're still finalizing a lot of the characteristics of classes. I'll probably be able to have more to say about that as time passes.

Halflife2.net: Will the Fortress Forever team carry the previous banlist from Team Fortress?

Schtoofa: Good question, but we figure that should be left up to the leagues themselves.

Halflife2.net: As far as overall progress, about how far along is Fortress Forever? What's left to be done?

Schtoofa: We've got a handful of maps already in the works, most of the sounds completed, many models underway, and some in-game mechanics worked out. We still have a long way to go though.

Halflife2.net: Any Final Thoughts?

Schtoofa: We'll try and give updates frequently, and appreciate any support folks have to offer. Including this interview!

Halflife2.net: Thanks for taking the time to talk, Halflife2.net thanks you!